Introduction to SMC

Introduction to SMC

The Solaris Management Console (SMC) is designed as a replacement for the admintool, which provided a limited and nonextensible set of tools for GUI system management. The motivation for providing GUI tools to seasoned command-line hackers may seem unclear; however, SMC provides methods for managing a large number of servers from a single interface, and it provides easy methods for extending the functionality of the core interface. This means that customized applications can be added to the toolbox, or the collection of administration applications for a specific system, by using the appropriate commands. It should be noted that SMC may not be of great benefit to administrators who manage a single system—it is an advanced tool that suits sites that deal with large numbers of systems.

Tip

If you run NIS+ or JumpStart, you’ll more than likely find SMC to be useful.

SMC allows system and application packages to be managed, along with users and groups. Multiple systems can be managed from a single system and user interface based on Java. SMC allows managed systems to be rebooted or shut down, for their root passwords to be set, for Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) support to be enabled, and for naming services like the Domain Name Service (DNS) to be administered. Processes can be reviewed in real time, along with system resources such as virtual and physical memory.

The following administrative tasks can be performed by software contained within SMC toolboxes:

Assign rights and roles to users

Configure and format new disks for the system, including laying out partitions and copying configurations from one disk to another in preparation for RAID

Create a single user account or generate multiple accounts using a consistent specification

Create new groups or modify existing groups

Create user policies and apply them

Execute jobs in real time or schedule them for regular, repeated execution

Install support for serial ports, modems, and related physical layer technologies such as PPP

Monitor processes and search for resumed, deleted, or suspended processes

Review system logs and search for anomalous or suspicious entries

Set up mailing lists

View mounted file systems

These management operations and applications are not provided intrinsically by SMC, but SMC provides an interface to access them.

Tip

All of the administrative operations utilized by SMC have been covered in previous chapters, along with their related tools.

EXAM TIP

You should be able to identify the various components of the SMC and their functions.